I thought I knew these views

But they've become

Rarefied by snow which hides away

All subtleties of colour

Flattering all shapes

To children's sketches.

Sheep, so much a part of any field,

Stand starkly silhouetted in the cold;

A solitary rabbit on the hill

Leaps for cover

A giant flea across a king-size quilt.

Only the movement of the train

Gives any sense of life,

Each station halt refracted to a

Picturesque deployment of itself.

Architectural features soften

In the lurking snow which clings

Like summer weeds

To every ledge.

Occasional bright colours break the trance

Of endless monochrome

But for now

The world is black and white.

Brian Hick January 2010

©copyright S Hick January 2022